European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 22, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday january 22, 19bb the stars and stripes Page 9 Dod struggling to meet deadline on regulation shielding go spouses by William j. Bartman  Bureau Washington Pentagon officials arc trying to write a  mandated regulation. That Shields  spouses from military influence without hurling dual service couples. The necessity to write the regulation carefully adds to the defense department s difficulty in trying to meet the feb. 1 congressional deadline. Pentagon official believe that Congress in ordering them to write Rogu canons protecting  spouses inadvertently wrote a Law that would Hurt dual service couple cd by making it difficult to keep them together during transfers. In the defense authorization act Congress gave the defense department just 60 Days to write regulations on the employment and Volunteer work of spouses. Congress said the policy must establish that the Deci Sion of a  s spouse to either work or voluntarily part Pate in military related activities should not be influenced by the preferences or requirements of the armed forces Congress went on 10 say tint neither a spouse s Deci Sion to work nor the  s marital slams should have an effect on the assignment or promotion opportunities of the  it is that second requirement with its Rule that marital Lalus not be considered in assignments that concerns the Pentagon. As it is written said Kathleen q Beims of the defense department family policy office it could end the policy of assigning married service members to the same location whenever possible o Edirne said Hie Pentagon will carefully write its regulation to comply with Congress without hurling service couples. Hurting dual service  be what Congress had in mind Here she said. The Issue dates Back to the complaints of air Force wives last summer thai commanding officers were trying to Force them to quit their jobs and do More military Volunteer work to support their husband s career. The claims resulted in an official inquiry that found in favor of the wives. A Blue ribbon panel was also created and it travelled around he world to study the Issue. Doth studies found that spouses had been unduly influenced by the command and said such practices must Stop. In october former Secretary of defense Caspar Weinberger said defense department policy leaves it up to the spouse to decide Between a career Nom Emak ing or Volunteer work. He ordered the services to write directives Matching that policy. The Navy complied with Weinberger s order and the army u in compliance through existing regulations. The air Force however has Yei to comply. Several weeks ago. Secretary of defense Frank car Lucci wrote his own memorandum on military spouses backing up Weinberger s statement and adding hat marital status should not be considered in assignments or promotions. However to avoid confusion the serv ices continue to work under the original Weinberger memo. Affair with enlisted woman lands officer in prison Sacramento Calif. A an air Force Security officer has been sentenced to a year in military prison for an adulterous Romance with on enlisted woman thai came to Light after other servicemen saw them kissing in a Park ing lot. The air Force said efforts by capt. James Ethel go or. To cover up the affair Wilh his subordinate got him the stiff sentence and ended his military career of nearly 11 years. Etheridge who is married and has a family was convicted of adultery fraternization with an enlisted woman obstruction of Justice and conspiracy. He was sentenced Jan. 6 to a year in prison and fined si3,000. What we were More interested in prosecuting in this Case was the obstruction of Justice charge said Mather fab Public affairs official Cathy Wimberly. That was More important to us than the fraternization  Etc Ridge s attorney capt Joel Marsh was in route to Little Rock ark., where he has since been transferred and could t be reached wednesday for com ment. According to the air Force when Ethridge Learned three military police had reported the kiss he and the woman conspired to Tell investigators that he had been counselling her about personal problems and that she kissed him As a Way of saying thank you. However their colleagues in the 323rd Security police 5q who saw them at the Coffee shop june 29 told investigators the kiss lasted for at least three minutes the air Force said. N september the couple was spotted together at Nimbus dam near Sacramento in the Middle of the night officials said. Afterwards Etheridge allegedly instructed the woman to Tell investigators that their meeting had been a coincidence the air Force said. Instead he reported that the rendezvous was planned and later told investigators she and Etheridge had sexual relations in june. Wimberly said it has t been decided what if any disciplinary action will be taken against the woman whose Iden Tity was not released. Fraternization in l a crime for enlisted personnel. Etheridge is at the . Disciplinary Barracks at la Vanworth kan., while his conviction before a military coun under goes an automatic Appeal said staff set Craig Ackerman of the Mather Public affairs office. It s not that common Acker Nan said of the sentence. We like to think thai people in the air Force Are very professional in their relationship. Our offi cers have to be Able to make unbiased decisions. And this sort of thing Juil erodes the Confidence of subordinates we just have id have some  unless his conviction is overturned. Etheridge will be retired or discharged from the service upon his release from prison Wii Ilbery said. She said the officer Proba Bly would still qualify . Space was a Breeze says song writing cosmonaut Moscow a cosmonaut Yuri Romanenko Laid thursday he kept occupied during his 3111-Day Mission watch ing Earth talking Wilh Mission control by radio every hour and directing his wife through a renovation of their apart ment. The 43-year-old cosmonaut who holds the space endurance record also wrote about 20 songs during his mis Sion said the chief of cosmonaut train ing Vladimir Shatalow at a news con Ference. Romanenko fellow cosmonauts and space officials gathered to discuss the longest manned space Mission in history which included 170 scientific experiments As Well As a project to determine How Well the human body adapts to weightlessness. Difficult psychological situations can arise among Crew members on space ships and this has been observed during Long ii gals Romanenko said when asked about his stay aboard the Mir space station. In this Case however we had comradery relation close contacts and our colleagues my comrades in arms so la speak always worked Well  Romanenko and Alexander la Voikin blasted off on feb. 6. 1987, aboard tic soyuz tm-2 capsule Docking at the Mir station two Days later. Mission control ordered Lac Kim Back to Earth after five months because of heart problems. He was replaced by Alexander Alexandrov in july during a joint soviet syrian minion. Romanenko had High Praise for the working and living conditions while Lav cos mount Yuri Ron Nenko at a wednesday press conference in Moscow. App now Eikin was aboard referring to the younger cosmonaut As an excellent compan Ion chosen for he million after careful research into their compatibility. Uwe Ikin left the station Wilh hard feelings because he wanted to continue to work in space Romanenko said. He said he coped Well Wilh the Isola Tion of space because he had regular Contact with ground control officials and Wilh his family and friends. He talked Wilh his family once or twice a week via television Monitor and radio he said. My wife got our apartment renovated during the Mission and i gave her Good advice from afar he joined. When i came Back the Flat was All  Romanenko said he had More prob lems adapting to Earth s Gravity after 96 Days in orbit in 1977-78 than upon his return dec. In after 326 Days in space. Then my legs fell Leaden i worked up a sweat quickly and my heart was palpitating Romanenko recalled of his first Steps after the space flight 10 Yean ago. But after the latest Mission Romanenko said he had to beg the Doc Lon to Lei him walk and exercise As soon As he re turned. Anatoly Grigoriev. Deputy director of the capital s Bio medical space research Institute said Romanenko proved a perfect candidate for the research on the effects of weightlessness because he showed no abnormal reactions to the prolonged stay in space. Cri Gorick said Normal temporary problems include circulation abnormalities dizziness hallucinations and heart palpitations. The space officials said the information gained during inc recent Mission has shown cosmonauts can endure Tern m space of up to is months without creating artificial Gravity aboard the space station. Shamalov indicated that the knowledge will be helpful in planning a future manned Mission to Mars. A Mission to Man would take three years round trip